Sudden night wakings and very upset

[mommahnatuk]

My DD is 13 months old and the poor thing is going through so much right now. Two nights ago we moved in with my parents from our own house while we are waiting for the possession date on our new house. We will be here for 4 weeks. I'm also fairly certain she is teething. Before we moved, she was waking anywhere from 4:30-6:00 and I would nurse her and put her back to bed, but sometimes I would bring her to bed with us (that is where I do morning feeds) and I think that may have started a bad pattern. Sometimes she would fall back to sleep and sometimes she wouldn't. She is also starting the 2-1 nap transition. Her activity times are 3.5 hrs between naps and then naps for 1 hr 15 min.

Since we moved to my parents place, she has woken at 4 am the first night and 2 am the second night. I try to lay her down and put my hand on her back (just like when she goes to bed) and she won't have it. She sits up and cries, I try to lay her back down and she keeps crying. Then I pick her up, rock her for a few seconds and she goes right to sleep. A few minutes after I lay her back down she wakes up again and I start the process over again. I've ended up bringing her to bed with us both times. I'm not sure what to do tonight if it happens again. I don't want to start bad habits, I need some help.

[becky1969]

Try medicating at those wakings and see if they are teething related.

My best guess? Her teeth are irritating her, causing her to rouse a bit in the night.  Then the disorientation of being somewhere new is causing her to wake more fully than she might.  Medication might help her sleep a bit better.  As for the disorientation, time in the new place will help that.  What I would do is get out as many familiar objects from her old room as possible, and then tell those items 'night-night' for naps and sleep -- that will bring her attention to the familiar things before she goes to sleep.  When we have to put our child in a new situation it's important to have as many old touchstones as possible -- familiar objects, familiar routines, etc.  So make sure your wind down is still the same -- or as similar as possible -- to wind down before move to parents house.

Let me know how you get on!